"Always remember the difference between economic power and political power: You can refuse to hire someone's services or buy his products in the private sector and go somewhere else instead. In the public sector, though, if you refuse to accept a politician's or bureaucrat's product or services you go to jail. Ultimately, after all, all regulations are observed and all taxes are paid at gunpoint. I believe those few who can't even see that have been short-sighted sheep...." ~ Rick Gaber

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I remember how, after the brakes went out on the station wagon after coming down a hill, she reached over just before we crashed and held me back against the seat with her arm. I remember that vividly even though I was only a little boy. That probably saved my life, as my head still cracked the windshield.
I remember how she'd pick us up from swimming lessons and take us to Vacation Bible...

David J. Theroux is the founder and president of The Independent Institute, a non-partisan, scholarly research and educational organization in Oakland, California.
What is the mission of The Independent Institute, and what does it do to achieve that mission?
The Independent Institute is a non-partisan, scholarly, public policy research and educational...

While reading an article about Brights (the new, more marketable term for atheists) last week, I came across this website for The Brights' Network. I was excited to find it until I read 'The Reason' for the group: 'Currently the naturalistic worldview is insufficiently expressed within most cultures. The purpose of this movement is to form an umbrella Internet constituency of Brights having...

- Not since 9/11 have I seen such uncritical, unquestioning, mindless thinking. I hesitate to use the word 'think' since that implies a cognitive process performed by an individual. 'Groupthink' would be a more accurate term. No need to have any thoughts of your own, just mimic the group. If waging war is like pouring Miracle Grow on the State, it is also like pouring another kind of...

Last weekend I saw the movie “Gangs of New York,” which was outstanding. The music was so memorable and inspiring that I bought the soundtrack, which is so good that I wanted to tell you about it. There are some 86 pieces of music in the movie, but the soundtrack CD has only 18 of them. Still, it’s a very eclectic mix. ...

A popular radio talk show host in Atlanta almost always responds with “Thanks for serving your country” if a caller tells him that he is a veteran or is in the military. That’s the common perception: People who serve in the military serve their country. If someone had asked me during the late 1980s why I wanted to join the military, I would have said,...

Don’t blame me, I didn’t vote. ~ Jeremy Sapienza
1. 1. You believe that a majority of voters has the right to impose their will on everyone else through the use of force.
3. You believe that the State is legitimate, and want to provide legitimacy to it for the next two to six years.
5. ...

The other day I received my annual property tax bill in the mail. If I don’t pay the annual rent to the landlord and true owner—the State—it will evict me and sell my house to another tenant. Oh sure, it leads me to believe that I own the house, but it just lets me stay here as long as I pay the rent.
- It is very difficult to avoid a property tax, whereas...

Yesterday I told you about The Privatization Song. Today I’m going to tell you about the metal band Ritual Carnage, whose new album “The Birth of Tragedy” ischock full of pro-freedom songs. Danny Carnage, the front man of the group and apparently its only American member (the rest are Japanese) happens to be a big fan of STR. The...

A couple of months ago (yes, I’m just now getting around to writing this column), I received a beige envelope in the mail that had a return address of simply “Dick Cheney.” “What could the President want with me?” I wondered. Hands trembling, I opened the envelope.
Inside was the ugliest invitation I’ve ever...

It is for no particular item in the tax-bill that I refuse to pay it. I simply wish to refuse allegiance to the State, to withdraw and stand aloof from it effectually. I do not care to trace the course of my dollar, if I could, till it buys a man or a musket to shoot one with--the dollar is innocent--but I am concerned to trace the effects of my allegiance. In fact, I quietly declare war...

And, I, for one, am tired of taking orders from cokeheads and felons! Elect another one and I'll tell you what. I'll be ready for war! ~ FreeRepublic founder and owner Jim Robinson, on 8/20/99
My days of laissez faire posting on FreeRepublic would soon come to an abrupt end, as this thread foretold. In case that page has been deleted by the time you read...

Jacob “Bumper” Hornberger has been president of The Future of Freedom Foundation since he founded it in 1989.
What does The Future of Freedom Foundation do?
FFF is a non-profit, educational foundation whose mission is to present an uncompromising moral, philosophical, and economic case for the libertarian philosophy. Ever since our inception in 1989, our methodology has been...

Unfortunately, a black market in organs still exists. People buy and sell organs without their government’s approval as if they had owned them since birth. The market, it seems, is like a noxious weed—pull it up and it grows right back.
Cocaine comes from Colombia, but where do organs come from? Well, you are what you eat. After you’...

Imagine a world of private laws, where laws are written by legal experts instead of inept politicians, and are voluntarily and explicitly agreed to in advance (including the penalties for breaking the law) by each individual, instead of imposed on everyone without notice and against their will. In this world, victims of crime are immediately indemnified for their loss. ...

Lawrence W. (Larry) Reed has been President of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy since it was founded in 1987. Based in Midland, Michigan, it is the largest and one of the most influential state-based think tanks in the U.S.
What does the Mackinac Center for Public Policy do?
Through its many events for a wide variety of audiences and a huge volume of research and...

As some of you know, last week I attended the Austrian Scholars Conference (ASC) at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. A number of people have asked me how it was, so I thought I’d write up this review.
During the pre-conference session, Professor Thomas DiLorenzo discussed his new book The Real Lincoln, and Professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe...

I remember how, after the brakes went out on the station wagon after coming down a hill, she reached over just before we crashed and held me back against the seat with her arm. I remember that vividly even though I was only a little boy. That probably saved my life, as my head still cracked the windshield.
I remember how she'd pick us up from swimming lessons and take us to Vacation Bible...

While reading an article about Brights (the new, more marketable term for atheists) last week, I came across this website for The Brights' Network. I was excited to find it until I read 'The Reason' for the group: 'Currently the naturalistic worldview is insufficiently expressed within most cultures. The purpose of this movement is to form an umbrella Internet constituency of Brights having...